Class Representation in Love Island UK

Love Island UK is a reality TV program in the United Kingdom. It centers around eligible singles “coupling up” in order to find someone to leave the island with, while also trying to win prize money. The contestants also compete in various games and gossip-sessions to stir up drama for the audience. The show, which originally aired in 2015, has garnered popularity, amassing millions of viewers globally, while also inspiring a spin-off in the United States.

On June 24th, 2025, Love Island UK aired an episode that marked the start of the show’s  “Sleepover” twist.  According to my roommates, this was meant to be an exciting episode, so I decided to tune in for the first time in a while. On the surface, Love Island UK seems like an over-dramatized and shallow show to binge. Once I started to dig deeper, though, I realized that it also reinforces a harmful narrative towards the middle and working classes. This episode, as well as most of Love Island, paints the picture that middle and working class individuals are only entertaining if they’re conventionally attractive, overdramatic, and sexualized.

When Love Island UK contestants are introduced, the audience is given their name, age, occupation, and where they’re from. The majority of the contestants don’t live extremely lavish lives. Most live in smaller towns in the UK, and work in either the corporate world or trades.

Beyond their introductions, class is also revealed through how they speak; both to one another, and in confessionals. Most of the Islanders spoke with regional accents around the UK, using a lot of British slang and informal language; such as “innit” and “he’s proper mugged her off.” When you think of the “proper Posh Brit,” those aren’t typically phrases you’d be hearing them say, demonstrating how the Islanders are more likely used to interacting in more casual and middle-class spaces. 

This becomes especially clear watching the Islanders interact with one another. There are constant misunderstandings and disagreements among the contestants; these moments are what make the show enticing to its audience. Sometimes the reasons for these aren’t the producers, but rather the disconnect in the communication between couples. The upbringing of each individual competitor alters both the way they communicate, as well as how they handle and react to various situations.

One example of this can be seen in the relationship between Tommy and Megan. The two had been coupled up since Day 1, until Megan kissed another man. When she eventually revealed this news to Tommy, it became evident that they had different views on the severity of the situation. Tommy, who has been priding himself on his loyalty, has his entire view of their relationship shattered. Meanwhile, Megan tries to downplay the situation, claiming it was unimportant and simply a “moment of madness.” Both the decisions they made, as well as the way they reacted, could be explained by their social class. While Megan is an energy broker from Brighton, Tommy’s a younger landscape gardener from Hertfordshire. He almost falls into the head-over-heels, small town boy trope. This could be an explanation as to why loyalty is one of his top values. Megan fits more into the realist, city-girl vibe, demonstrating how she doesn’t think it’s as big of a deal. This is a direct example of habitus.

Habitus is made up of the ingrained habits, skills, and perspectives based on our upbringing and environment. It actively and subconsciously impacts our behaviors, actions, instincts, and world view. The authenticity and relaxed-nature of the Islanders interactions are a direct display of their habitus, allowing the audience to grasp a better understanding of each individual cast member.

Although it’s been established that the cast of the show is predominantly made up of working and middle-class individuals, the setting of the show doesn’t display this in the slightest. Love Island UK always takes place in a lavish villa, often in a tropical destination. The villa this season can be described as nothing short of luxurious.

Located in Mallorca, Spain, the 2025 villa paints the picture for a perfect holiday get-away. It incorporated elements such as Insta-worthy glam stations, an infinity pool, renewable energy charging ports, and optimal spaces to lay out and tan; not to mention it’s all newly designed and constructed. The glitz and glamor of the set provides a stark contrast to the more modest origins the majority of the contestants heed from. The villa serves as almost a land of fantasy to the Islanders; it’s a place that separates them from the real world, where their only priorities are finding love, looking good, and producing entertaining television.

This image of luxury can’t just be portrayed through the villa, though, it also needs to be exemplified in the way the contestants present themselves. The Islanders, though shown to the audience from awakening to going to sleep, are never seen looking less than their best. They’re always dressed in designer swimwear or expensive evening outfits, often adorned with bold jewelry and accompanied by perfectly done hair and make-up. On the surface, this can just be justified by the Islanders wanting to look their best, and although partially true, there’s a sense of aspiration behind the way they portray themselves.

Each contestant is always trying to look the “hottest” or the most “put together;” it seems as though they’re all trying to one-up each other. This helps to further show the classes they come from. If the everyday life of the cast members was already full of tropical destinations and designer attire, they most likely wouldn’t care as much about the elements of the villa or what they wear, as it would just be a part of their day-to-day life. Instead, the Islanders are constantly focused on the way they present themselves, further demonstrating how this expensive environment isn’t one they’re necessarily used to.

Love Island UK often also chooses to show our cast in a hyper-sexualized light. Every element of the show is curated in a way that objectifies the Islanders to the audience. Although the clothes they wear are often expensive and high-quality, they also leave little to the imagination. Cameras shoot and are angled in ways to emphasize bodies and physical attributes, rather than putting emphasis on the conversations occurring and contestant personalities.

The production’s focus on appearance can even be seen in how the villa was constructed. There are very few activities for the Islanders to do outside of mingling and laying in the sun. Most obvious, there’s the pool, but oftentimes, you won’t see anyone in it in order to not mess up their mics, hair, or make-up. The only other entertainment options available are using the work-out equipment or touching up looks in the glam room; all tasks that make your physical appearance “better.” 

The format of Love Island further shapes how these class identities are represented. The show cuts between group interactions and confessionals, where contestants talk directly to the camera about their feelings and their strategies. This classic reality TV editing pattern creates and heightens emotional tension.

The program also utilizes music and underscoring to both transition through the show smoothly, as well as to dramatize what is occurring on screen to the audience. During fun and flirty scenes, you’ll hear spunky, upbeat pop tunes; during an emotional breakup or fight, you’ll hear melancholy and sad piano. Camera angles zoom in on tears or stolen glances, amplifying emotions. This editing style makes the Islanders’ feelings much more heightened and performative, which is entertaining, but also entirely shaped by what the producers want to portray to audiences.

Islanders who express emotion in ways that are engaging, exciting, and relatable get more screen time. This reinforces the harmful narrative that the only way to be “entertaining” as an average person is to exaggerate your physical appearance or emotional responses.

When you dive deeper into Love Island UK, under the petty drama and bikinis, it becomes evident that the show conveys a broader ideological message about class and success. Although the Islanders are predominantly made up of people like you and I, we get no glimpse into that aspect of their life. Besides their introduction, we’re given no glimpse into their actual lives. Nothing about their careers, their family dynamics, or even their upbringings are mentioned; even though, all of these things directly impact who they are and how they interact with others. Each Islander is seen as almost a blank canvas. They serve as a pawn for the producers, the ones who decide what “character” each contestant will play. No person needs a backstory when someone else (in this case, the show’s producers) is deciding “who you are” and showing that version of yourself to the entire world.

Overall, Love Island UK 2025, Episode 14 is more than a simple reality show episode. It is a carefully constructed representation of British working and middle-class identities that blends entertainment with a distinct ideological message. Though the show reimagines the cast members to be these lavish, over-dramatic caricatures, the reality is that they’re almost all average people; they just also happen to be conventionally attractive. They’re people who want more out of life, people who want to build an image for themselves, people who want to live an actual life of luxury; not one that was fabricated and built strictly for the television. They want these things so bad that they’re willing to be put on display in a false light, one that over-sexualizes and over-dramatizes them, in order to have the chance to move up the social ladder.